My amateur thoughts on the 2016 election

Author: davidhwils

I’ve been wanting to communicate my thoughts on this election season for a while, and there was so much up until now that I could have said (a lot of it I did say in Facebook posts), but now that the General Election is pretty much underway, I thought I’d get started.

Last week, Donald Trump – yes Donald Trump – officially became the GOP nominee for President of the United States. I fully expect, years from now, I will read this and I still won’t be able to believe it. Donald Trump, someone who in my opinion (and many others’) is a racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, egotistical bully with a temper as hot as the sun, is now a little bit of luck away from being President of the United States. And Mike Pence, someone who wrote that smoking doesn’t kill, that the Disney cartoon Mulan was liberal propaganda, someone who believes that religious freedom trumps all other civil rights (especially if you’re gay) has been nominated to be Vice President of the United States. What an interesting time to be alive.

There will be plenty to say about why neither of these men should be in eyeshot of the Oval Office, but let me suffice it to say that their convention last week alone is reason why they should never be in power. Lack of discipline when it comes to speeches (Melania and her plagiarism, denying any wrong-doing and blaming the media firestorm on the Clintons, the Ted Cruz speech when they knew he wouldn’t endorse on the same night your VP was accepting the nomination), a rabid crowd screaming for the jailing of their opponent, and a theme of fear, hatred, and authoritarianism (I alone can fix it – I am your voice) should be enough to scare everyone to the polls to vote for the only person who has a mathematical possibility of defeating him.

That person, by the way, is having her convention this week. And I am lucky enough to be here. It is my hope that what we see from Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine this week provides not only a stark contrast from the Trump campaign and the GOP, but also a vision of hope for a better tomorrow in the face of the many challenges before us. Because that is what America means to me: the unshakeable belief that our better days are still ahead, that our union is always becoming more perfect, and that we are stronger when we fight together rather than allow ourselves to be divided.

As the week goes on, and as the campaign continues into November, I am hoping to use this space to capture and share my thoughts on why Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine should be the President and Vice President of this great nation of ours. I am honored to be a staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton, and I am proud to be a delegate as well as a volunteer doing everything I can to make sure she takes the White House.

We say every four years that this is the most important election of our lifetimes. That’s never actually true. But this time it is. We can choose between a divider, a narcissist, a bully who only builds walls, or a bridge-builder, a public servant, someone who seeks to bring people together. It is my hope that, if you are reading my blog, you will come to know that, in this election, no matter to what end of the political spectrum you belong, Hillary Clinton is the only acceptable choice come November 8.